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8:20
Ingredient doses
Zinc, maca, citrulline, ashwagandha: what counts is the dose
Zinc, vitamin D, citrulline, maca, ashwagandha, saw palmetto: the daily dose each ingredient was tested at, family by family, and how to check a label in 3 steps.
Read the label
Is your supplement properly dosed? Read the label in four steps
Go grab the bottle you have at home. What a supplement is worth is not written on the front: it is in the Supplement Facts panel on the back, and that panel reads in about a minute. Four things, always in the same order. Here they are, with one simple rule per step and a real label read line by line.
Video
How to read a supplement label in one minute, in four steps
The four steps, ready to screenshot
- One: turn the bottle around. The front is advertising. The Supplement Facts panel on the back is the information.
- Two: check the serving size. And right below it, how many servings are in the bottle.
- Three: vitamins and minerals. Look at the percentage: 100% or more is a full dose.
- Four: plants and amino acids. One number per line, or the order of the list if it is a blend, and the word extract.
Take a screenshot of that box, it will come in handy the next time you buy. What is behind each step is explained below, and if you do not have a bottle yet, further down you will find our picks by goal and by age.
4steps, always in the same order
1 minper bottle, that is all it takes
100%means one serving covers the full Daily Value for a day
40 mgof zinc a day: the upper limit for an adult, all products combined
Step 1: turn the bottle around
Everything printed on the front, you can forget: that is advertising. What matters is the panel on the back, the one headed Supplement Facts, with the ingredients and the numbers.
It is the one place where the brand is required to write what is actually inside.
Step 2: read the first line of the panel
The first line says Serving Size: one capsule, two capsules, one gummy. Every number in the panel is given for that serving. Right below, Servings Per Container tells you how long the bottle lasts.
Take Vigortrix. Serving size: two capsules. Sixty capsules in the bottle, so thirty servings. That is one month, not two.
Always compare the serving, never a single capsule
Two bottles can print the same number and not ask the same thing of you: 10 mg of zinc from one capsule, or 10 mg from two. Over a day it is the same amount, only the number of capsules changes. And the other way around: if the serving is two capsules and you take one, you get half of everything in the panel.
Step 3: vitamins and minerals, look at the percentage
Zinc, selenium, vitamin B6. On those lines you get two numbers: an amount, in mg or mcg, and a percentage in the column headed % Daily Value, often shortened to %DV. Look at the percentage, it is the easy one. 100% means one serving gives you the full reference amount for a day.
Our rule of thumb: look for the lines at 100% or more. Those are full doses. ProstAfense is an example: its page lists selenium at 125% and vitamin B6 at 100% of the Daily Value.
| Nutrient | What 100% of the Daily Value stands for |
|---|---|
| Zinc | 11 mg |
| Selenium | 55 mcg |
| Vitamin B6 | 1.7 mg |
| Niacin (vitamin B3) | 16 mg |
| Vitamin D | 20 mcg (800 IU) |
| Magnesium | 420 mg |
Daily Values for adults: FDA, Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts labels. The upper limits for the same nutrients are on our home page.
Why the front of the bottle cannot tell you
In the US, nobody approves the sentence on the front before the product goes on sale, and there is no set minimum dose behind it. That is why labels carry the line: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.”
The front can say the same thing with a little or with a lot. Only the panel tells you which one you have.
Step 4: plants and amino acids, milligrams and the word extract
Here there is no percentage. You will see a small symbol instead, an asterisk or a dagger, and at the bottom of the panel the words Daily Value not established. That is normal: there is no official daily amount for a plant or an amino acid. So you check two things.
Does each ingredient have its own number?
If every ingredient has its own amount in milligrams, on its own line, you know exactly what you are taking.
Sometimes you will see one single number for a whole group of plants. That is called a proprietary blend. It is legal, it is very common in the US, and it is how a brand protects its recipe. ProstAfense and JellyFil are built that way: ProstAfense has a 400 mg blend of 17 botanicals and mushrooms. In that case, read the order of the list. By law, the first name is the one there is the most of, and the last name, the least.
Powder or extract?
A plant can go in as a powder, that is the plant dried and ground. Or as an extract, that is the plant concentrated. 100 mg of extract is a lot more plant than 100 mg of powder.
| On the label | What it means, and where you see it |
|---|---|
| Powder | The plant dried and ground. Common for roots and leaves |
| Extract | The plant concentrated. Example: the six plants in HorseFil, all listed as extracts |
| Extract with a ratio, such as 10:1 | Ten parts of plant went into one part of extract. Example: saw palmetto berries at 10:1 in ProstAfense, according to the brand’s page |
| Standardized extract, with a percentage | The strength is the same from one bottle to the next. Example: a ginseng extract standardized to a stated percentage of ginsenosides |
| Extract with its own brand name | A trademarked extract, made by the same process every time. Example: KSM-66 ashwagandha |
The further down this table, the more precisely you know what is in the capsule. And for the daily dose each plant and amino acid was tested at in studies, see our ingredient-by-ingredient cheat sheet.
The four steps on a real label: HorseFil, in thirty seconds
An example says more than any rule. Here is the Supplement Facts panel of HorseFil Male Vitality, as it appears on the label.
| What the label says | Result |
|---|---|
| Step 1. Turn the bottle around: the Supplement Facts panel | Found |
| Step 2. “Serving size: 1 gummy.” Thirty gummies in the bottle | One a day, one bottle is one month |
| Step 3. No vitamins or minerals in this one: it is a plant formula | No percentage to check |
| Step 4. Seven ingredients, seven numbers, each on its own line, no blend. All six plants are listed as extracts | One number per line, six extracts |
Line by line: 200 mg of tongkat ali, 100 mg of maca root, 100 mg of ashwagandha, 100 mg of horny goat weed, 50 mg of beet root, 50 mg of grape seed, plus 50 mg of L-arginine. Because it is a gummy, the panel opens with a few nutrition lines: 6 calories and 1.5 g of sugars per serving.
That took thirty seconds, and you know exactly what is in the bottle.
Seven ingredients, seven numbers, one gummy a day
Six plant extracts and one amino acid, every amount on its own line, thirty strawberry gummies per bottle.
See the HorseFil offerNot the biggest numbers: the formula that matches your goal
It may sound obvious, but we would rather say it twice: do not just pick the bottle with the biggest numbers. Pick the one that matches what you are looking for. At twenty-five, you are not looking for the same thing as at fifty-five.
For the products below, the reading is already done. Pick the line that fits you.
Nine active ingredients in one gummy a day: SodaPeak
SodaPeak puts nine active ingredients into one gummy a day: four traditional plants, muira puama, maca, catuaba and horny goat weed, then L-arginine and tribulus, ashwagandha, green tea and a touch of caffeine, 5 mg. The panel gives them as an 82 mg proprietary blend, so step 4 applies: the names are listed by weight, muira puama, maca and catuaba first. A one-time payment and a 60-day money-back guarantee. The panel is read step by step in our SodaPeak review.
A daily capsule routine with no stimulants: Vigortrix
Nine ingredients, two amino acids, five botanicals and two nutrients, in two capsules a day, with no stimulants. One bottle is a 30-day supply, and the order comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Formula, packages and guarantee are in our Vigortrix review.
Two more gummies: HorseFil and JellyFil
HorseFil is the label read above: one gummy a day, seven ingredients, seven amounts in plain sight, a one-time payment and a 60-day guarantee according to its sales page. JellyFil is a gummy too, built around a proprietary blend: the panel gives the weight of the blend and lists what is in it, in order.
Prostate support past forty-five: ProstAfense
A different goal, and a different formula: selenium at 125% and vitamin B6 at 100% of the Daily Value, next to a 400 mg blend of 17 botanicals and mushrooms, saw palmetto among them. The brand’s page announces a one-time payment and a 60-day guarantee.
The same picks, sorted by age
| Your age | What fits |
|---|---|
| Your twenties | A daily routine: SodaPeak, HorseFil or JellyFil as a gummy, Vigortrix in capsules |
| Your thirties | The same daily routine, in the format you will actually take every day |
| Forty to sixty | The same routine, and past forty-five, if prostate support is what you are after, ProstAfense |
One product at a time
Do not mix products. Many of them share the same ingredients, zinc for example, and it adds up: Vigortrix and ProstAfense both contain it. For an adult, the upper limit for zinc is 40 mg a day, from everything combined, food included. If you switch, finish the open bottle before you start the next one.
Questions about reading a label
Where is the dose written on a supplement?
In the Supplement Facts panel on the back of the bottle. The first line, Serving Size, says how many capsules or gummies the numbers are given for, and Servings Per Container says how long the bottle lasts.
What does % Daily Value mean on a supplement label?
It is the share of a day’s reference amount that one serving provides, for vitamins and minerals. 100% means one serving gives you the full reference amount for a day: 11 mg for zinc, 55 mcg for selenium, 1.7 mg for vitamin B6.
What does “Daily Value not established” mean?
That no official daily amount exists for that ingredient. It is the case for plants and amino acids, which is why their lines carry an asterisk or a dagger instead of a percentage. For those lines, what counts is the amount in milligrams and whether the plant is a powder or an extract.
What is a proprietary blend?
A group of ingredients listed under one name with a single total weight. It is legal and very common in the US. The panel does not give the amount of each ingredient, but it has to list them by weight: the first name is the one there is the most of, the last name the least.
What is the difference between a powder and an extract?
A powder is the plant dried and ground, an extract is the plant concentrated. 100 mg of extract is a lot more plant than 100 mg of powder. A standardized extract with a percentage, or an extract with its own brand name, has the same strength from one bottle to the next.
Does the FDA approve what is written on the front of the bottle?
No. Nobody approves the sentence on the front before the product goes on sale, and there is no set minimum dose behind it. That is why labels carry the line “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration,” and why the panel on the back is the place to look.
Is the bottle with the biggest numbers the best one?
Not automatically. It depends on what you are looking for: a gummy you will actually take every day, like SodaPeak, HorseFil or JellyFil, a daily capsule routine with no stimulants, like Vigortrix, or prostate support past forty-five, like ProstAfense.
Can you take two supplements at the same time?
Better not: one product at a time. Many share the same ingredients, zinc for example, and it adds up. For an adult, the upper limit for zinc is 40 mg a day from everything combined.
The reading is already done
SodaPeak if you would rather chew a gummy, Vigortrix for a daily capsule routine with no stimulants. Both are ordered on the seller’s official site, with a 60-day guarantee.
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